After months of inking this is somewhat refreshing. Welcome back, old friends.

Day 51. People often ask me – are there going to be any pipes in my new game.

Day 52. People also often ask me – are there going to be any machines in my new game.

Day 53. I might have gone a bit overboard with this one…

Day 54. Just relaxing underground…

Day 55. Just relaxing underground in color.

Day 56. I sense a theme…

Day 57. Imagine darkness.

Day 58. Never mind, I did it for you.

Day 59. Early morning totally professional game design session.

Day 60. Teleporter designed by my daughter. :D

Day 61. Now with more energy.

Day 62. So, by now we’re two inktobers deep in this. Cool, cool.

Day 63. Let’s stay connected.

Day 64. The plan.

Day 65. Find the trip-up.

Day 66. Execute.

Day 67. Let’s face it.

Day 68. Impatient improv.

Day 69. Meanwhile in the loop.

Day 70. Meanwhile, today I made some changes in the Submachine Card Game. This card is now obsolete.

Day 71. Immortalised yesterday’s fallen card by redrawing it in my sketchbook.

Day 72. And the transformation is complete.

Day 73. Back in business.

Day 74. Sunday grind.

Day 75. Abundance of clicks.

Day 76. Almost forgot.

Day 77. The grind.

Day 78. Cross hatched crossword.

Day 79. Hello there.

Day 80. Thank You for watching. Good night and good luck.

Day 21. Guess where I’ve been today.

Day 22. Muh subconscious.

Day 23. Release of 10 Gnomes in Malmo.

Day 24. An idea for next Submachine.

Day 25. Fly.

Day 26. The Lighthouse.

Day 27. Since I can’t show you drawings for the new game – I’m showing you ALL the drawings for the new game. And there will be more…

Day 28. What is it, daddy?

Day 29. Well, back to it. Next batch of ink drawings for the big game…

Day 30. It’s not finished yet, but please, do come in.

Day 31. Easter is cancelled. Tradition is not.

Day 32. Revelation.

Day 33. Should we even keep counting?…

Day 34. Things I can’t show you yet.

Day 35. Sandman returns.

Day 36. Ideas for NEW Submachine come as they please.

Day 37. Boxed in.

Day 38. Let me out.

Day 39. Boxed in in color.

Day 40. Advanced lighting system. Top of the line I’d even say.

Day 41. Never forget.

Day 42. I had to draw a cheat sheet for my wife so she could understand all time jumps in “the Last Dance”. :D

Day 43. Layers, like in photoshop. Except in real life.

Day 44. Layered, colored.

Day 45. :D

Day 46. Meanwhile, outside.

Day 47. That’s it, I’m going back underground. Or should I say: I’m going subterranean.

Day 48. Meanwhile, outside.

Day 49. Yes, my sketches are basic, I admit.

Day 50. Day… 50… Let that sink in… Day… Fifty…

Day 1. The work continues.

day 2. Quarantine.

Day 3. Time to pack?

Day 4. Hang on.

Day 5. We’re in this together.

Day 6. Sidequest: find gnomes. :D

Day 7. #AloneTogether.

Day 8. This feels like inktober…

Day 9. … but it’s actually #inkorona. Sidenote: do NOT board your windows.

Day 10. On hold.

Day 11. Familiar sketchbook.

Day 12. Late night fear.

Day 13. 13 is not my lucky number.

Day 14. State of mind after two weeks of isolation.

Day 15. Back to the roots.

Day 16. Change of subject.

Day 17. Oh, hai.

Day 18. Coming soon to a quarantine near You!

Day 19. Trolling gnomes since 2008.

Day 20. Don’t ask.

~~

August 20th 2019
First sketches, basic design.

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August 21st 2019
First prototype deck. Played and tested.

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August 22nd 2019
Prototype 2 deck. Added 10 more cards. Played and tested.
Prototype 3 deck. Doubled two cards. Played and tested.

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August 23rd 2019
Prototype 4 deck (final). Added 4 new unique cards, deck is complete, game is done and fully playable.

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August 25th 2019
Announcement teaser.

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August 26th 2019
Game is revealed on social media.

~

Added navigation icons to the card design. This solves two problems at once. Vertical orientation and efficient card information when holding in hand.

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August 27th 2019
First room card prototype created in Adobe Flash.

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August 28th 2019
Full deck listing. Full deck in beta.

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August 29th 2019
First physical print of complete deck in beta (feature complete).

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August 31st 2019
Single player testing.

Results shared on social:
“Good news! Just tested my Submachine Card Game for single player mode and yes, you can totally play it by yourself.” [src]

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September 2nd, 2019
First draft of “instruction and game rules” is written down in polish language.

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September 7th, 2019
First card drafts with graphics taken from Submachine games.

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September 10th, 2019
Beta deck v2 with color graphics taken from Submachine games.

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September 13th, 2019
First print of the color beta deck. (Looks awesome). :D

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September 17th, 2019
three cards reprinted with changed colors, original prints had misprinted colors.

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November 4th 2019
Rebalancing the deck. After extensive testing I’m slightly altering the flow of the game. 5 cards taken out, other 5 duplicated. Deck is still at 100 total.

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November 6th 2019
Big change today. 17 out of 100 cards were altered. It’s the first “vertical” version.

~~

February 25th, 2020
New mechanic added (card switching) after play session with professional card players.
Updates to instructions, card descriptions and pictograms on cards.

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May 20th, 2020:
Unification of machine game mechanic (changed from 6 different cards to 2 cards tripled in the deck).

~~

August 3rd 2020:
Added more colors to room color pool (grey, blue), colors tweaked.
Changed colors of doors / ladders to steel grey.
August 6th 2020:
New version of the deck printed(ver 7.0)

~~

August 10th 2021 (yes, a year later) :D
discovered game breaking bug, 5 cards could hard lock the game (2x trashcan, 3x machine), immediately breaking it. As result: 8 cards removed from the deck (2x trashcan, 3x machine, 3x cog), and replaced by 8 other cards expanding the number of those cards in the deck (2x portal, 2x grating, 2x key, 2x lockpick)

~~

August 12th 2021
[lockpick] card changes it’s mechanic (opens all 3 instead of 2x)

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August 18th 2021
game start: each player get 9 cards instead of 7 (prolongs the game, prevents winning outright in third round).

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August 31st 2021
Created more unique closed door variants (34 cards instead of 18 x2)
Deck size stays the same (100 cards), but is more varied.

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March 5th 2024 (yes, 3 years later…)
Redesigned card back.

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May 10th 2024
Added new mechanic and new 4 cards (Note card). To keep the deck at 100 cards 4 cards were removed (2x switch on back wall and 2x ladder).

~~

May 20th 2024
Added more colors to room design (gray and dark blue-gray).
Added back black movement arrows on “new passage” cards (ommited in print from 2021).
New version of print files prepared for proofing.
Preparation of campaign page on Kickstarter.

~~

May 23rd 2024
Card reveal

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May 26th 2024
Pre-launch page on Kickstarter goes live.

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June 12th 2024
Launch date reveal.

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June 21st 2024, Friday.
Kickstarter campaign launch.
Funding goal reached after 2.5 hours.

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June 23rd 2024, Sunday.
All 500/500 early bird type rewards gone.

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June 26th, 2024, Wednesday.


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July 3rd 2024, Wednesday.
First stretch goal reached (700 backers).

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July 21st 2024, Sunday, 9 pm.
End of Kickstarter campaign.



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August 8th 2024, Thursday.
Fulfillment: All Steam keys for Submachine Legacy sent out to everyone who pledged with that add-on.
~~
September 22nd 2024, Sunday.
Game rulebook is complete in two languages: English and Polish.

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September 26th 2024, thursday:
Fulfillment: All prototype cards sent out, except for 3, which will be sent with watercolor paintings later on.
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October 9th 2024, wednesday:
Fulfillment: All proofing cards sent out, except for one (lack of address).
~~
October 15th 2024, tuesday:
Fulfillment: All ink drawings sent out.
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October 18th 2024, friday:
Game rulebook translations: all 6 translations that will be added to factory sealed first print are complete. These are: English, Polish, French, Spanish, German and Italian.
~~
November 23rd 2024, saturday:
Fulfillment: All watercolors painting has been sent out, except for one (still undecided what to paint).
~~
November 27th, 2024, wednesday:
Final production sample – straight from Shanghai to Gdansk. The complete game with it’s full packaging, including metal can, all rulebooks, outer shipping box. Checking for all smallest imperfections before greenlighting factory production of entire run. Example of such small change – the hologram on the metal can was upside down. :D

~~
February 24th 2025, monday:
Fulfillment of the final product begins. Card game is being sent out to all backers.

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March 12th, 2025, wednesday:
Thumpmonks release official soundtrack for the game to accompany and enhance atmosphere and immersion of gameplay.

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April 7th, 2025, monday:
Start of the card game being sold on my website.

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April 30th 2025, wednesday:
Sunsetting of kickstarter fulfillment. There are still  11 backers that haven’t sent me their home address and phone number, despite being asked to do so repeatedly via kickstarter updates, direct messages and emails. I will keep trying to contact these people occasionally to try to get their details and send them the game, but at this point 99% of fulfillment is done and the campaign is officially ending.

~~

Polska recenzja w Magazynie Plansza

Listen… I know. I know there’s too much reading as of late about the Submachine here. This is the last article about the Flash era Submachines, ok? I promise. Just let me do this, and it’ll be done for. Next time we’ll be talking Submachine it will be about new game created in Game Maker to be released on Steam. Hopefully that will be in two or three years from now.

(more…)

1. At the ends of Submachine 10 and Submachine Universe, the Player ends up in a desert. What is the significance of this place for people like Murtaugh and Elizabeth, and where is it located with respect to the rest of the Submachine? Is it a foreign planet, as it appears, or is this an alternate Earth?

The desert is located on Earth, it’s just another layer of reality, as those layers span over entire universe, so you can get a planet set in different layers having different characteristics, like atmosphere or number of moons. This explains green hue and two moons in this particular instance.

2. Where is the Edge located exactly? Is it a wall between the Core and the Outer Rim, or is it surrounding the Outer Rim? Or both things are true, and we travel to the outer part to disable the inner part’s defences? How does one explain the human infestation map in Submachine 6?

The Edge was evolving with the expansion of the subnet. It was firstly created as a measure of defence for the core, but then was expanded to cover more and more ground regarding expanding nature of the entire subnet. Yes, we travel between different parts / rings of defences. Infestation map was created by artificial intelligence.

3. What does the Defence System actually do and what is it protecting? Who are the turrets for and where are they pointed? Does it govern the subbots? Does it protect the Core or is it at the outer edge of the outer rim? Are the defences in or out?

The purpose of the defence system is to protect the core from colliding with collapsing parts of the outer rim. It does not govern the subbots. The defences are outwards toward the “enemy”. That enemy being other, rogue parts of the subnet growth.

4. If the Lighthouse is a part of the Core and the Root is a part of the Outer Rim, how can they be connected physically (as seen in Submachine 5)?

The border between the Core and the Root is not reflected in the physical form of those locations.

5. What is the true layout of the Lighthouse? Is the painting shown in Submachine 1 correct? If so, why can’t we see the entrance nor the third floor window in Submachine 2?

The painting is not correct concerning the architecture of the actual lighthouse from Submachine 2. That painting could be from another layer.

6. Do the structures seen at the ending of Submachine Universe imply that the player didn’t exit the Subnet from any of them because they weren’t their home layer?

They are his (player’s) home layer, as is the observatory that we’re exiting through. It was just a matter of sheer coincidence that we left through observatory and not one of those giant dish telescopes.

7. Where is the Kent we keep hearing about? England, Connecticut or some place original to the Submachine canon?

Kent is somewhere unrelated to our geographical layout. At least of our layer that we, humans, occupy right now.

8. Why do all layers have a black void in the background while in Submachine 8 we see different sky backgrounds?

Each layer is different and presents unique characteristics, light disperses differently in each one.

9. Is the starry background in Submachine 8’s layer 2 fake, or is Submachine really so big that it can host whole stars inside it?

It’s not fake. However, it’s not said that it’s a sky and those are stars. Void can be different as well in different layers.

10. Are the calculations on how big the Root is? That is to say, does the Root comprise of approximately 1413 rooms within 157 distinct transporter locations, which are a small part of 11,818 rooms of transporter locations?

I have no idea how big the root is. I mean, I never thought about it. You see, I can only see parts of the story at one time, I can’t see the big picture. I don’t know if there is one. It could be right, hard for me to say.

11. What is the significance of the statue seen in 314 and why is it so similar to the one in 452?

The statue in 314 is a god of mathematics, or more specifically a god of PI. It’s similar to the one in 452, because it was the same culture that created both of those gods.

12. Are there locations in the Subnet that even Murtaugh with his karma arm cannot visit? If so, why? Are they specific locations, or do they form a group due to some property? Could they be reached by someone else?

No, he can get to any given location at will. All that is limiting him are the boundaries of the karma reach itself. I explain that a bit more down below in question about how does one create karma portals.

13. Is location 672 an example of a Submachine in construction?

No, it’s an example of Submachine entropy.

14. Does the Submachine copy structures built by aliens?

No. Aliens did not make contact in this reality in any of the layers.

15. Does the Submachine have an outer shell, like in the movie Cube, or is it infinite? If yes, what is it?

No, Submachine doesn’t have an outer shell. It disperses like universe.

16. Why does the Subnet exist at all? Where did it first come from and what made the first location be created/absorbed? Where is it? Is it inside a universe or its own universe? If the first Subnet location wasn’t necessarily built by humans then what’s responsible for starting everything? What was the intended purpose of just having a bunch of places in empty space somehow controlled by a computer?

The Submachine was build by humans. Subnet started growing by itself after the singularity.

17. When was the Lab created and for what purpose? Was it a part of the attempt to understand the collapse and rapid expansion? If not, what was it for and who controlled it?

the Lab was created in purpose of understanding the uncontrollable expansion of the subnet. It was not created, nor controlled by Murtaugh in it’s inception.

18. What is the purpose of the Root in the Submachine story line? What was it used for and who by and for how long? Why was there an observation room; is the place still used? In short: what is special about the Root, outside of it being the first man-made Submachine?

the Root was the first Submachine structure build. It was as a sandbox for developing more Submachine locations. Hence, the observation room. The place is abandoned now.

19. What were the seven-layer bullets used for and when? Was there a war between followers of Murtaugh and those who opposed him? Did people try to kill Murtaugh later? How did this affect Murtaugh? How did this affect the Subnet?

Seven-layer bullets are preventing the dodging of the bullet by changing layer. Such a bullet is present in all layers at once. You can dodge a 1-layer bullet just by hopping into another layer, with 7-layer bullets you can’t do it. No, there was not an all-out war between factions. Only smaller armed conflicts. People tried to kill M later. This resulted in him abandoning one-layer life. He became an unfocused being. This didn’t have any immediate result on the subnet.

20. What is the rough timeline of the “Sub-Eras” and the “Dynasties”? When did the singularity happen?

The timeline does not matter in this situations, since there’s a possibility of time travel in the structure. The singularity happened when Shiva gained consciousness. If you want me to spell out entire history of the Submachine Universe, I’m not doing that. I only offer small windows into particular moments of history.

21. Is the plot for Submachine 9:
a: Mur and Liz travel into the past and are revered, but soon die and are buried in a proper format.
b: Mur and Liz go through time normally and, therefore, die normally.

They go back in time, are revered, but don’t die soon. They live quite a bit after starting the time travel era of their existence.

22. What are the specific moments during the series that the player travels in time, and roughly how many years/decades/etc. do they go forwards/backwards?

That’s for the player to find out, I’m not spoiling the game play of Submachine.

23. What happened exactly in the period between Submachine 4 and 5? The player woke up in a bed at the start of Submachine 5, with food and coffee, and there are no signs of them having been teleported recently; how did they get there?

I think a subbot guided the player to the living chamber. However, we did it on our own volition and completely consciously. In any case, this is irrelevant in the grander picture.

24. At which date does the first game take place?

Specific dates are insignificant to the story.

25. How exactly does one decide where to transport to find a new KP or XYZ location? So many of the XYZ locations are completely closed structures, so does that mean that the portals were already inside? But then how were explorers able to access them if they weren’t previously reverse-engineered? And how does Mur find new locations to turn into KP locations? Does he just point his arm off in space until a little chime plays so he knows he hit solid material?

You don’t. You just happen to find one. That’s the idea behind blind jumping. Yes, the portals were already inside the closed/collapsed/abandoned locations. Reverse engineering concerned only the subnet self-created transporters (one-armed ones), to allow them to carry humans, not the exploration team transporters (two-armed). Murtaugh finds new locations to visit by the way of echolocation, but instead of sound, he uses karmic footprint of solid matter. He senses the next possible location point.

26. What are the specific moments during the series that the player changes layer, and which layer do they end up each time?

It’s for the player of the game to find out. I’m not the one to dictate your game flow.

27. How do karma portals interact with the layer “dimension” (assuming that the layer dimension is accurately explained in the first place)? What does it mean to have “interdimensional karma flow”?

They rip through the layer fabric going to another layer. Think wormhole. They kind of ignore the solid state of matter in present layer and focus on similar anomaly in another layer.  Two anomalies combine into a wormhole connecting two layers.

28. Are there instances in the games where layer and dimension are not used synonymously? Consider, for example “[t]he Submachine is now living in five dimensions” in Submachine 10.

No, layer and dimension are two different ways of describing the same thing.

29. Are layers and sublayers actually arranged in a continuum similar to the number line, as the note from Submachine 10 suggests? That is, is there a sublayer 1.5 between layer 1 and layer 2, a sublayer 1.25 between layer 1 and sublayer 1.5, and so on?

Yes, but it’s just a matter of nomenclature, those layers don’t really have any names attached to them. It was us who named them in an attempt to understand the workings of a multi-layered universe.

30. If so, what is there after layer 7? Does the structure wrap back to layer 1, like the numbers in a clock or like in a Submachine loop? Or there is simply nothing past it?

First of all, there is an eighth layer, the layer of light. After that the layers loop back to the beginning. There is a bigger question at hand here. If you jump from layer 7 to 8 and then jump in the same direction and land in layer 1, does that mean that another layer 1 was created after layer 8, or did you end up in the same layer you started your journey in?… I think – the latter is true.

31. What distinguishes the seven main layers from all other sublayers?

Probably not much, really. They’re distinguished artificially by the presence of humans and the number of karma portals that connect them. Think of main layers as highways and smaller ones as side country roads. It depends on karma traffic.

32. In layer 8, if all atoms are “frozen in time”, why can the player move?

In layer 8, all atoms that are original to this layer are frozen in time. Hence, when you jump to it, you can see basically what you’d see after crossing the event horizon of a black hole. With the exception that when you move you create friction, hence the light.

33. Who made up the plan and were the layers involved created by someone/something in particular? If so, how? If not, does that mean it’s just something that was “discovered” that’s tied to this fictional universe that we just have to accept?

The plan was made by the same people that created structures that take part in the plan. The architects of the first era. Layers were not created by anyone, just as the universe is not created by anyone. They were used to develop multi-layered architecture.

34. What is the difference between green, white and blue karmic energy?

The difference is range and bandwidth of karma flow in karma traffic. They are naturally all compatible with each other. When two different colors are combined in on karmic pathway, that pathway takes characteristics of the lower-tier karmic portal.

35. Is the color of a karma portal significant in some way? How about the size (as seen in Submachine 7)?

The color – look at previous answer. The size does not matter. After all – you end up in a tiny wormhole, dimensions are treated differently there.

36. What is the purpose of the player’s journey? Could you explain the player’s journey in your own words and how long it took? Are we a student going through a museum ride or what? How long after the events described in the notes is player actually situated in? Months? Years? Centuries? Millennia?

The purpose is 32. The player is what you want him/her to be. It’s kind of a role-playing element of the Submachine. That person can be just another cog in the machine. Just another explorer of the vast net of Submachine. Or the savior of the world and all structures in it. Depends on you really.

37. Who were the unidentified people who left notes in Submachines 8, 9 and 10, and how were they produced? Why are they written as dialogue, if they are notes? What is the speakers’ and the notes’ significance to the story?

Those were Monks studying ancient scrolls about the events of the second and third era.

38. In Submachine 10 we see what we assume to be inactive subbots lying about everywhere. Are they actually subbots and if not, what are they? Why are they there? Who used them and what for?

Yes, those were subbots. The Subbots are like white cells in your blood.

39. In Submachine 10 we see a lot of skulls, but no skeletons? Where did the skeletons go and where did the researcher get so many skulls in the first place?

He was looking for that chip, remember? He only needed heads to do so. The remains of all bodies are somewhere else.

40. Do subbots attack humans? If not, what is the note in location 613 referencing? Why and how do they do this?

Subbots are not hostile. They are the maintenance of the structure. As we said before they could’ve even helped you along your way in transferring from Submachine 4 to Submachine 5.

41. Does Einstein actually have powers, or was that just an illusion caused by Murtaugh’s uncontrolled use of karma in the lighthouse?

Yes, Einstein does have karmic powers, as all cats do.

42. What is Elizabeth’s ethnicity?

She’s of Indian descent, but at the same time she’s south-american. Think the region of our Venezuela.

43. Does SHIVA or some other AI actually control all of the Subnet or just some parts of it? Is this a part of Submachines or has SHIVA just taken over?

Shiva is not in control. Shiva was the spark that created consciousness in the structure. Side note: no, Submachine Universe is not conscious, but it houses a conscious artificial being.

44. Why is resin pouring into and burying different Submachines?

This is the same process that lead the Lighthouse to be buried by sand. Layers that are offset by an angle can create a spill from one to another. This spill can be created by karma portal or natural intersection of two layers.

45. What significance does the AI from the note in Submachine 8 have on anything we see in the Subnet? Is the AI in question SHIVA? Is the AI responsible for first creating the Subnet? What is the answer to “Why are we” and is there a demonstration of this answer anywhere?

Yes, the AI mentioned in submachine 8 is Shiva. It’s significance is that it was the singularity. And that in turn created the growth of the subnet. I have no answer to the question “Why are we”. Nor does anyone in Submachine. That answer was known to Shiva, but only for a split second after the singularity.

46. Is it possible, for example, that a location, thousands of years old, never existed 3 days ago? in other words, something is old because because it was made to be old.

Not really. Some locations are made to look old, but they’re not actually old. Those locations are more of reconstructions of older ones. They may resemble structures that existed before and are not there anymore, or can be completely original.

47. Did people actually live in the Subnet or could they leave to be on their “home planet” or something like that.

Yes, people lived there and also could leave at any point if they so desired. Things got complicated after the singularity and the advent of spontaneous growth of the net.

48. You said long ago that Submachine locations are either “adopted” from older locations or “created from scratch”. Would you say the Submachine prefers either? If it favoured creating things formulaicly, that’d explain all the basement style locations, but on the other hand there’s loads and loads of unique chambers as well.

Submachine does not prefer, nor favor any type of location scheme. The creation is random and governed only by laws of physics at best, which, as we know are a bit shaky in the Submachine as well. Remember, the net is NOT conscious. It’s rng.

49. Can someone influence the creation of locations? like planting a seed or placing a frame.

Yes. There’s a spontaneous growth of the net, but that doesn’t exclude human interference in the process of building. Humans are still able to create the plan. It’s possible.

50. How does the player appear in the submachine?

Ah, back to the beginning. What a fitting ending to this q&a… If you’re still reading here, hey, have karma cookie! At the beginning of the first game the player is transported into the heart of the subnet via a karma portal from outside of the structure.